The Manton Bay & Site B pairs have been settling in nicely since 5R(04) from Manton Bay returned on Thursday and the Site B female who John Wright first saw at Site B this morning.

An icy morning in Manton Bay

5R on his first morning back in the bay

5R reaquainting himself with his favourite perches

5R(04) has caught three large fish today but he has only managed to take one back to the nest for the female as he has dropped the other two.

This was partly a consequence of a third osprey in the bay, 30(05). She is one of the other female birds who has bred in the area since 2009 but her mate is yet to return. These videos show 5R(04) and the Manton Bay female mantling on the nest before 30(05) landed beside them. If you look closely you can clearly see her faded yellow ring.
A little while later as 5R(04) came in to Manton Bay with a fish she re-appeared and caused him to drop his catch as he chased her off.

If you have been watching the webcam you may have noticed that the nest is looking a bit bare, in his efforts to nest build today all he has managed to bring in a single spindly stick and a piece of thistle. The Manton Bay female has been on the nest for a lot of the day, tidying up and nest scraping.

The picture below shows the pair at Manton Bay.

John has spent most of the morning at a blustery Site B, where he saw the Site B female for the first time this Spring. In contrast to 5R(04) in Manton Bay 03(97) has built the nest up quite considerably whilst he has been waiting for almost two weeks for his mate to return.

He too has managed to catch a fish, albeit a small one, and taken it to his mate.

This photo shows 03(97) on the left and his unringed mate on the right.

We’ll have a full update from Site B and more pictures from Site B in the morning.